Written by Dan Glickman at the Hall of Very Good
Tanking. It’s not a word that comes up in baseball all much.
You often will see NFL, NHL and NBA teams “tank” so that they have a better shot at top prospects, but it’s rare that you hear the words said in Major League Baseball. Partly it’s because of the different structure of the league: one single great player can change an entire team in the NHL or NBA, and a great quarterback can pave the way for an NFL team.
However, no one player, no matter how amazing, can save a bad MLB team. If the 1962 Mets had had Mickey Mantle, they still would have stunk (although they probably wouldn’t have been the worst team ever like they often are considered to be). If the Phillies had Bryce Harper this past season, they would not have suddenly been transformed into playoff contenders.
And yet, given the success this season of the Royals, Astros, Twins, Mets and Cubs built upon years of prospects built up thanks to horrible performance and the trades of established stars, and what seems like the beginning of a similar process by the Atlanta Braves, one must wonder- are we entering a time where years of “tanking” will become a common strategy?
Now, it should be noted that not all- or even any- of the above performances were the result of tanking.
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